A tax on fossil fuel pollution is exactly the right thing to do and badly needed. No other action or set of actions have anywhere near the capability to impact fossil fuel use that a tax on carbon pollution has.

Like it or not, we live in a market based economy. We have an economy and a culture built on relatively cheap fossil fuels. They have been cheap mostly because no one has taken into account the incredibly high costs to society from the damage they do. This damage includes everything from lung diseases to oil spills to mountain top removal, and most importantly, the carbon dioxide and methane building up in the atmosphere. This build up is causing, and will continue to cause, huge negative impact on our world and society. Damage from Superstorm Sandy cost over $70 billion. Irene cost $850 million. As climate change worsens there will more and stronger storms. Yet it will not be the fossil fuel companies who pay for that damage. It will be you and I, and more importantly, it will be our children and grandchildren. And yes, we and they will pay for that damage through — guess what- taxes.

So the time has come to place a tax on that pollution, to cover the real costs of fossil fuels.

This can be done in a progressive way so that low and moderate income Vermonters are not harmed. Those who use the most fossil fuels will pay the most. Some of the tax can be used to expand renewable energy. Most of the tax would be returned to Vermonters as either a dividend or as a reduction in other taxes. In this way we create a strong incentive for everyone to reduce their fossil fuel use. No other action will have as significant an impact on taxing the pollution caused by fossil fuels.

It is unjust and immoral for us to leave a damaged and hostile world to our children. We need to act now.

PATRICK FLOOD

Woodbury

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